“I didn’t know you don’t drink tea, Mr. Moor. I overstepped. I apologize.“But please reconsider ceasing the manufacturing operation.“Shangrila Group is the city’s big taxpayer. We have had great experiences working with all government departments—” Noah waved his arm to cut Winnie off. “Enough with the nonsense. We were only doing our job. You failed the inspection, and that’s the end of the story.” Noah smirked and quickened his pace to exit the place. The walkout put a lot of stress on Winnie. Standing there, Winnie drew a deep breath before chasing after Noah. With a forced smile, she said, “You’re right, Mr. Moor. We will shut down and rectify the issues.” Winnie did not want to suspend work. She merely switched her strategy. The priority was to go along with Noah and smooth things over with him. Winnie then said, “But can you give us some pointers to address the issues quickly? “I hope you can give us another chance before a complete shutdown,” Winnie pleaded
“He’s the Quints’ son-in-law. He scammed Shangrila Group from the top three families...”Zenny gave Noah a bit of Kaze’s back story and laughed wickedly. “Besides, have you heard about his wife, Darcy Quint? “She is one hot babe.” Noah remembered Darcy because he had seen her before. He chuckled. “I know her. If only I could have a night with her.” “Hahaha!”The snickers echoed on both ends of the line. On the way back to Shangrila Group, Winnie gave Kaze a call with a heavy heart. “Hello? Are you free tonight, Mr. Chairman? Can you attend a dinner invitation with me?” “What’s the occasion?” Kaze asked curiously as he walked out of Perfect World Group’s headquarters. “It’s with a boss in the Food and Drug Administration.” Winnie recounted the earlier incident without holding any details back. Kaze’s eyes flickered with harshness. Here came trouble. “A boss in the Food and Drug Administration, you say? Alright, I’ll go with you tonight. I want to see who he is,
“We are waiting for you to surprise us tonight, Noah.” The men were all from the same department under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Noah was the center of the topic. They flattered him with a hint of reverence as if he was naturally superior over them. “Haha, I’m not just going to surprise all of you. I’ll make that woman drink with us and you guys can enjoy her.” Noah sat back on the chair with his legs crossed, taking puffs from his cigarette. Winnie and Kaze overheard Noah from outside the room and it made their expressions grim. Winnie took a deep breath before knocking on the door and went inside. “Hi, Mr. Lou, everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting.” “Ms. Souffle, you’re late. You have to drink three shots first before we begin.” Noah put his leg down and smiled. He was neither nervous nor embarrassed even though Winnie and Kaze overheard him. He then got up and introduced the others to Winnie. “Let me introduce them. Troy, deputy chief of the Ministry of
“If they are happy, and I’m satisfied, whether to modify the factory or not will be up to me.”Kaze frowned. If modifying the factory was solely at Noah’s discretion, then it meant that the man intentionally targeted Shangrila Group and gave the company a hard time. Though it was already clear, Noah blatantly revealed his intention, which proved how arrogant he was. Winnie suppressed the anger in her and bit the bullet, saying, “Alright. Let’s have a toast then.” She drank with everyone in the room and chatted with them. It was already inappropriate to let a woman drink so much but Noah did not plan to stop just yet. He spat a cloud of smoke at Winnie and said with a grin, “Ms. Souffle, go on.” “Troy and Baskin are famous for drinkers. One drink isn’t enough.” Winnie’s hand shook, and her face turned slightly pale. First three shots, then one shot with each of the chiefs. Her stomach was already feeling strange yet Noah insisted that she continued. He was obviously
“Fine, punk. You got yourself a deal. If you beat us in drinking, I’ll resume your factory’s operation!” Noah grinned and then continued, “But we have a rule. You can’t just surrender verbally. You either knock us out, or you go out on a stretcher. Now you wouldn’t be a pussy, would you?” His tone was colder than ice. Kaze challenged him repeatedly, which to him was courting death. If so, he did not mind knocking out Kaze on the spot with alcohol. Even if Kaze did not die of alcohol poisoning, his stomach would implode on alcohol. Winnie’s expression shifted. She was scared. They were no longer trying to compete in drinking, they were trying to get Kaze killed! Noah was shameless to make such a rule because he had the advantage of numbers on his side. All of them were veteran drinkers and they were trying to drink Kaze to death. “Don’t…” Winnie tried to stop Kaze from falling into Noah’s trap but Kaze tapped on her shoulder to calm her down. He then grinned at N
At the start of the third round, Kaze drank even fiercer. “This is getting boring.” He lost his patience in drinking one by one, so he asked the waiter for five bowls and filled them all up with whiskey. Then, he drank all of them in succession. Noah, Troy, and the others felt challenged by Kaze’s contemptuous gaze. Some punk from nowhere challenged them and looked down on them. They were furious but they felt deterred when Kaze finished all five bowls of whiskey. Including the previous rounds, Kaze had probably drunk more than three bottles of whiskey. Yet he looked fine and his face did not even blush. Was he immune to alcohol? “Guys, this punk must be on his last stretch. He’s trying to scare us off by drinking that much in one go.” “Yeah. We can’t back off now!” Noah believed Kaze was playing mind games with them, so he bit the bullet and drank another bowl of whiskey. Troy, Baskin, and the others did the same as well. “Let’s continue.” Kaze grinned. H
“Know your place. It is your honor to be at this table. Usually, you won’t even have the chance to drink with us! Don’t push it, son!” Noah leaned on the table and glared at Kaze, condescendingly warning him. He then grabbed his bowl and flipped it over on the table, refusing to drink no matter what Kaze said. Kaze scoffed. “You can’t drink but you won’t accept defeat. Is this how people like you do things nowadays? If you don’t want to drink, I’ll make you!” He then went over to Noah with a bowl of whiskey. Bang! Troy from the Ministry of Health and Welfare slammed the table and got up, stopping Kaze. “Punk, what are you doing? We are all important people in government offices. If you mess with us, you and your family will be erased from Lilyrose!” Kaze looked at the man and then grabbed him by the neck. “What the f… W-What are you… Gulp!” Troy struggled but could not break free from Kaze’s grip. Kaze squeezed his mouth open and started to pour the whiskey into his
“Mr. Moor, that’s insincere of you. You can just tell your man to send us the approval now, why later? You can’t even drink as promised, I can’t trust you,” Kaze said with a faint grin on his face. Noah did not know Kaze was teasing him. Annoyed, he said, “Punk, go ask anyone. I’m a man of my word! There are official procedures that we must go through, I can’t make the decisions alone. I have to get other people’s approval as well…” He was trying to stall and delay the decision. Since he was the one making the final decision, he could stall as long as he liked. “Enough.” Kaze stopped his nonsense and said coldly, “I am not demanding you to give us an approval now. Our game is still not yet finished. Let’s continue drinking!” He then went over to Noah with a bowl of whiskey. “Stop it! You are going to get someone killed…” Winnie darted over and pulled Kaze back with a worried look. “Punk, if something happens to me, you and your family will suffer!” Noah’s expression t
It never occurred to Kaze that Cyan and her influencer friends would attend Hannah’s celebration too. Before Cyan said anything, one influencer put her hand over her lips and said with a smile, “Get with the times, Anna. Cyan’s family isn’t just close with the senior members of the Viper’s Den. She’s going to be part of the organization soon.” “Huh?” Stunned, the other influencers asked, “What’s going on? Just tell us, Sweetpea!” Sweetpea was the influencer who just spilled the beans. She was Cyan’s closest friend and biggest ass-kisser. Taking Cyan by the shoulder, Sweetpea said, “Remember Cyan’s number one fan?” “Yeah!”“Sponge has been a fan of Cyan even before she signed with Golden Scale Corporation. Sponge tipped her tens of millions.”“That was how Cyan caught the eye of Golden Scale Corporation, and she became a hit.” The influencers chattered among themselves, all familiar with Sponge. They came from nothing and clawed their way up online.Their beginnings
The next afternoon, Kaze arrived at the parking lot outside Bronze Sparrow. It was packed with fancy cars. Needless to say, the underground garage must be filled with cars too. Hannah’s celebration was held in Bronze Sparrow. Just a few days ago, Siberian infiltrated Bronze Sparrow and abducted Anzu. The incident caused quite a stir in the upper crust of Riverbank. At the same time, the underground powerhouses were eager to get involved. As Miru, the up-and-coming underworld boss, seemed to be all bark and no bite, they wanted to see what she was made of. Bronze Sparrow, a place where troublemakers once ceased to exist, had to deal with incidents daily. Despite Miru getting tough on these troublemakers, business at Bronze Sparrow took a nosedive anyway. Miru was frustrated with the situation. Siberian had been a threat to the Viper’s Den for many years. It was no surprise that Miru’s crew could not defeat him. This time, Siberian’s death at the hands of the Viper’s
Kaze was taken aback. “How did you know?” “How?” June’s lips curled. “It’s all over town by now. Darcy is the chairwoman of Sky Ocean Corporation. Have you any idea how many eyes are on a rich and beautiful girl like her? “Her divorce has caught the attention of men, and they are going to try their luck with her.” It did not take Kaze much to know that the Quint family members had nothing better to do. Agnes had been hoping to marry her daughter up. However, Darcy had the power, money, and connections to be playing with the big leagues herself. Agnes’ expectations for her future son-in-law would only go higher. Despite her lack of brain cells, Agnes would not do something degrading like circulating the news of her daughter’s divorce. “Hey! Why do you seem indifferent about this?” June elbowed Kaze. “How do you think I should react?” Kaze found June baffling. June looked disappointed. “You don’t seem upset that you were dumped.” “Get a life.” Kaze did not hav
Sasha regained consciousness through sheer willpower. She had made a full recovery from her external injuries, but she simply could not wake up from her mental trauma. However, Sasha seemed to be in a better place than before the incident. Before, Sasha would avert her gaze, not meeting the eyes of the person she was talking to. Yet now, Kaze realized that Sasha looked at him straight in the eyes. There had to be some sort of experience to bring about the change in her. “Did something bad happen, Kaze?” Sasha asked, her eyes reflecting concern. Kaze pulled himself together and reached out to shuffle her hair. “No. Let’s not get into it. You just got up. You should rest well.” “No, I’ve been awake for a while now.” Sasha, one to be meek in Kaze’s presence, refuted him for once. She shook her head and said, “I was just afraid. I was scared that the nightmare would come back when I opened my eyes, so I pretended to be asleep. “But now that you’re here, I have no reason
Agnes settled down. “That’s right. We are better off without the parasite. “We will live comfortably thanks to our precious daughter—” “Darcy! Darcy!” Before Agnes could finish, an individual barged into the villa. Maxine, her hair disheveled and her body in bruises, rushed into the living room and grabbed hold of Darcy while wailing, “Darcy! I was wrong! I was a snob to target you! It’s all my fault. I’m the worst!” She gave herself a couple of slaps before pleading, “Darcy, I need Kaze’s help. Please, can you get him to tell Patrick to get back together with me?“Ever since I broke up with Patrick, he befriended Kaze and became successful. He calls the shots in his family now.“I’m being made fun of for not cherishing him. My parents, brother, and grandmother are on my case, telling me off for missing out on a good catch. “Darcy, we’re family. Please, can you talk to Kaze for me? Patrick doesn’t listen to anyone else but him.” Maxine, who always fancied herself to be
The Quint quickly realized they were so close to digging their own grave. Thankfully, they did not upset Darcy too much. They had a lot of ass-kissing to make up for now. Smug, Agnes went up and said, “Thank you for working together with Darcy. I know that you put the project on pause because you were tight with Kaze. “But my daughter and Kaze have separated. Don’t listen to him if he tries to get involved with Sky Ocean Corporation. “Kaze gets nothing out of the divorce, so he can’t offer you anything. You are free to collaborate with my daughter.” Perfect World Group and the Riverbank council were responsive to put the project on hold because of Kaze. However, Agnes was not the least bit grateful. In fact, she tried to acquire Kaze’s network. In her opinion, Kaze had lost everything. A wise person would choose to make the most out of the situation and make a business deal with Darcy. Blue from Perfect World Group put on a straight face. “Mrs. Quint, I have one more th
It took a lot of effort for Agnes to break her daughter up with Kaze. There was no way she would allow Kaze to have a second shot with Darcy. The way Agnes saw it, her daughter was the head of the Quints in the South River State and the chairwoman of Sky Ocean Corporation. Darcy was beautiful and a great catch. Kaze did not mean squat. While Agnes danced with joy, several vehicles turned up outside the villa. These cars belonged to two different parties. The first group was in fancy cars while the other group was much more discreet. Still, nobody would dismiss government vehicles. Though surprised, Darcy quickly went up to greet the people. “Chief Yaphet, Mr. Jayne, what brings you here?” The alphas of both groups were not some big VIP to Darcy’s family. However, they had control over Sky Ocean Corporation’s future. More accurately, the entities that these people worked for held the fate of Sky Ocean Corporation in their hands. Welson, a middle-ranking official in the
“No way! Madam Quint had no reason to kill Madam Dark.” There was a bustle at Villa No. 1. Despite the statement coming from the police, the crowd was skeptical that Phoenix would kill anyone. Agnes and Darcy found the truth hard to swallow. If Phoenix were behind the evil assassination, they would be wrong about Kaze. The police officer said, “We learned that the dump truck driver received 1.2 million dollars before the accident. We tracked the money to one of Phoenix’s people in Ridgesouth. “We looked into Phoenix’s phone records and discovered that she contacted the Steelclaw Guild through the dark web. “She had no idea that we have eyes on the dark web. Though we don’t know the specifics of her deal with the Steelclaw Guild, she would only have one reason to contact an assassination organization.“The Steelclaw Guild’s killer then showed up at the funeral parlor.“We are linking these two incidents, and our prime suspect is Phoenix, who is now deceased.“We didn’t de
“Kaze, do you know how unfamiliar and frightened you’re making me feel right now?“Why was the Steelclaw Guild’s killer after you? If today didn’t happen, I wouldn’t know that you had gotten yourself in deep trouble. “I don’t know what else you are hiding from me. I even wonder if you were behind Madam Dark’s car accident. “My feelings toward you have been true, but family is equally important to me. “I’m afraid that one day, you will get my parents and brother killed.” Darcy let everything out. The storm in Kaze’s eyes quelled.He grabbed a pen and signed his name before taking his copy. Kaze placed the other copy on the table before walking away. As the people in the villa watched on in shock, Agnes dropped her jaw in joy. Agnes thought that it would take a lot of talking and crying to push Darcy in the right direction. To her surprise, Darcy filed for divorce right away. Nevertheless, she was quick to complain. “You are silly, Darcy. You should have asked for V